BAM Rose Cinemas' Repertory Program, Presents a Series of Nine Films, June 12-July 11, Directed During the 1970S by the Incisive American Filmmaker Robert Altman
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Brooklyn 30 Lafayette Avenue BAM RoseCinemas Academy Brooklyn NY 11217-1486 Pressand Promotions of Telephone: 718.636.4111 Nicki Lilavois Music Fax 718.857.2021 718 636 4129. x3 News Release BAMcinematek Presents Robert Altman: Films of the 70s Nine films, including two anniversary screenings are featured in a five-week series, June 12-July 11 The 30th anniversary screening of M*A *S*H, runs June 2-3, and the 25th anniversary screening of Nashville, July 3-4 Brooklyn, April 20, 2000-BAMcinematek, BAM Rose Cinemas' repertory program, presents a series of nine films, June 12-July 11, directed during the 1970s by the incisive American filmmaker Robert Altman. The Monday-Tuesday series, Robert Altman: Films of the 70s, features a collection of early films by the maverick director who has kept an astute and irreverent eye on American culture for three decades. Robert Altman: Films of the 70s includes two anniversary screenings: M*A *S*H (1970) from June 2-3 and Nashville (1975) from July 3- 4; plus a rare screening of the new print of Brewster McCloud (1970) on Wednesday, July 5. Through June 30, unless otherwise noted, tickets are $8.50 for general admission and $5 for students (with valid I.D. Monday-Friday, except holidays), seniors, BAM Cinema Club members and children under 12. Tickets are available one week prior to each screening at the BAM Rose Cinemas Box Office (30 Lafayette Avenue) or by calling 718.623.2770. As of July 1, tickets are $9 for general admission. All other ticket prices remain the same. A dinner and movie package with BAMcafe is available for $25 (at the box office only). For more information, call the BAMcinematekhotline at 718.636.4157 or visit the BAM web site at www.bam.org. Robert Altman is one of the most personal and renegade filmmakers to survive Hollywood, despite his refusal to work within the normal boundaries of the studios-often achieving great success in spite of his outsider status. His most acclaimed films, M*A *S*H, Nashville, and The Player, all garnered Best Director Academy Award nominations. His films have also earned him Golden Palm and New York Film Critics' awards, and his work has influenced numerous filmmakers (including Paul Thomas Anderson, whose Magnolia is stylistically indebted to Altman). Altman's films focus on American culture, unflinchingly and often hilariously exposing the dark comedy at the core of the American dream. His stubbornly individualistic films often draw from a rotating stable of actors and rely heavily upon improvisation. more ... BAM RoseCinemas Altman 2 Robert Altman: Films of the 70s begins on June 12 and 13 with Altman's first major success, M*A *S*H, which spawned the popular television show. The series continues on June 19 with The Long Goodbye (1973), an intelligent, anti-heroic adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, and on June 20 with California Split ( 1974 ), a masterful study of the psyche of compulsive gamblers. 3 Women (1977), a dreamlike study of three women who exchange personalities, screens on June 26. Other films in the series are McCabe &Mrs. Miller (1971), Thieves Like Us (1974), Nashville, and Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976). A rare screening of the new print of Brewster McCloud (1970) is scheduled for July 5. The complete schedule follows. About Robert Altman Robert Altman was born on February 20, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was educated in Jesuit schools before serving in World War II as a bomber pilot. He studied engineering at the University of Missouri and attempted a number of business ventures, including the advancement of a dog-tattooing machine of his own invention. Unable to find steady work in Hollywood, he became employed at an industrial films company in Kansas City, where he honed his filmmaking skills. During this time, he raised money for his first feature, The Delinquents, a teen exploitation film about juvenile crime, which he sold to United Artists in 1957. Later that year, he collaborated on the documentary, The James Dean Story, and for a time found a niche as a TV director, shooting numerous episodes for such series as Bonanza and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Altman returned to feature films in 1968 with Countdown, and finally asserted himself as an auteur of consequence in 1970 with M*A *S*H (a script he landed only after 15 other directors turned it dovm). His next move set the tone for the rest of his career. Instead of accepting one of the many offers to direct big-budget studio films, he shot the offbeat allegory, Brewster McCloud (1970). Altman's next few films, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Images (1972, U.K.), and Thieves Like Us, solidified his critical reputation but did poorly at the box office. In 1975 he regained his Hollywood cachet with the kaleidoscopic epic Nashville, which earned Best Film and Best Director Oscar nominations. Following this success, he filmed the bizarre Buffalo Bill and the Indians and then drifted through a number of styles, from the literally dreamlike 3 Women, back to the mosaic A Wedding, and from the imaginative Popeye to the filmed stage plays, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and Secret Honor. Altman again received critical acclaim with his cable mini-series, Tanner '88 (1988) and with Vincent and Theo (1990); then surprised Hollywood with The Player (1992), a black comedy with a vengeance whose stinging satire, directed against Hollywood, ironically brought him back into its fold. Since then, and true to form, Altman has stubbornly insisted on going his own way, crafting another lengthy, complex American aria based on Raymond Carver's short stories, Short Cuts (1993), and continuing with such idiosyncratic, personal films such as Kansas City and Cookie's Fortune. Altman is also credited with contributing to the development of contemporary sound technology, having developed his early interest in sound recording into the Lions 8-Track sound system, a multi-layered recording method that has given his films much of their aural texture. more ... \ Altman 3 Robert Altman: Films ofthe 70s schedule All programs and showtimes are subject to change. Please call 718.636.4157 or visit www.bam.org within three days of screening to confirm showtimes. All showtimes at 4:30, 7, and 9:30pm unless otherwise indicated. June 12-13 M*A *S*H (1970), 116 min June 19 The Long Goodbye (1973), 112 min June 20 California Split (1974), 108 min June 26 3 Women (1977), 124 min June 27 Thieves Like Us (1974), 123 min July 3-4 Nashville (1975), 159 min (2:30, 5:45, and 9pm) July 5 Brewster McC/oud ( 1970), 105 min July 10 Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976), 120 min July 11 McCabe &Mrs. Miller (1971), 120 min Robert Altman: Films o[the 70s Monday-Tuesday, June 12-13 M*A *S*H ( 1970) 116 min, 30th anniversary screening/New Print Written by Ring Lardner, Jr. from the novel by Richard Hooker Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Rene Auberjonois, Gary Burghoff, Michael Murphy This stylish, anti-authoritarian ensemble romp about an irreverent U.S. medical unit in the Korean War is less a linear story than a series of interconnected vignettes. The tight direction of the loose acting created a striking black comedy that launched many of its actors' careers. Monday, June 19 The Long Goodbye (1973), 112 min Written by Leigh Brackett from the novel by Raymond Chandler Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson Altman (with the improvisations of his cast) updates Chandler's novel by dragging film-noir from the black-and-white 1940s to the shades-of-gray 1970s, and discovers eccentric humor and intelligence in this classic tale of love, murder, and the mob. Tuesday, June 20 California Split (1974), 108 min Written by Joseph Walsh George Segal, Elliott Gould, Ann Prentiss, Jeff Goldblum California Split chronicles the psychology of compulsive gambling. Segal and Gould bet and brawl their way from Los Angeles to Reno with high-flying improvisational acting reigned in by firmly controlled directing. Monday, June 26 3 Women (1977), 124 min New Print Written and directed by Robert Altman Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Janice Rule Shy, reclusive "Pinky" becomes attached to her coworker "Millie"; after an accident, they each gradually assume the personality of the other. Duvall and Spacek give bravura performances in this odd American art film, the idea for which Altman says literally came to him in a dream. more ... Altman 4 Tuesday, June 27 Thieves Like Us (1974), 123 min Written by Robert Altman, Joan Tewkesbury, and Calder Willingham, from the novel by Edward Anderson III Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, Louise Fletcher, Tom Skerritt In a quietly poetic remake of Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night, Altman takes an objective look at the relationship between an escaped convict and a simple, uneducated girl; a rare 1930s period verisimilitude. Monday-Tuesday, July 3-4 Nashville (1975), 159 min (2:30, 5:45, and 9pm) 25th anniversary screening Written by Joan Tewkesbury With Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Keith Camadine, Geraldine Chaplin, Shelley Duvall, Henry Gibson, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Barbara Harris, Michael Murphy, Lily Tomlin, Keenan Wynn, Elliott Gould, Julie Christie This Altman masterpiece is a brilliant mosaic of American life as seen through the lives of 24 characters during a presidential campaign in the country music capital. Nominated for five Academy Awards, this film more than any other shows Altman's impeccable control as he interweaves the stories of disparate lives and never loses a thread.